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The claim fired something to life inside Sacha. Something fierce. It showed in his voice. “What is this cleaning up nonsense? You are a very beautiful man. I am making lots of people jealous right now.”

Bandit’s huge grin never dimmed until he pulled Sacha even closer.

That was the moment Sacha saw his mistake.

He had been goaded into showing his hand.

Bandit’s expression said he knew it too.

The music slowed even more and so did they.

Bandit left no room between them. For a moment, Sacha thought Bandit would kiss him.

At the last second, Bandit either changed his mind or always intended to keep things sweet.

His lips swept Sacha’s cheek. They lingered there.

Sacha’s heart never stood a chance against someone so much more than him.

He didn’t know how to explain that thought.

But Sacha was just a struggling cake designer turned wedding planner.

Bandit was a star. People knew his name.

Not just that. People wore his name on their backs and chanted it in stands all over the world.

His face was on TVs with people cheering for him…

lusting for him. It was only dumb luck Sacha had even landed in his sphere.

They shared a mutual friend. That was all.

Bandit would walk away from this dance and leave Sacha behind.

Likely, he would never think of this again.

Sacha would never think of anything else.

The songs continued, and Bandit never let him go.

Even as the music moved from slow to fast and back again, Bandit kept him glued to the dance floor.

Finally, the crowd wound down to only a few stragglers.

Sacha had to beg out. He had more work to do.

Still, Bandit held his hand as they left the dance floor, and Sacha was beyond the point of no return.

Bandit was all the way beneath his skin.

“I’ll stay until you’re done tonight so I can walk you to your car.”

Even as disappointment washed over him, Sacha knew it was for the best. He had known nothing would come of this and should be grateful for it. “There’s no need. We are in a very secure location. Nothing will happen to me here.”

Bandit shrugged. “I won’t be able to relax until I know you’re safe for the night.”

That was sweet. “If you must.”

Bandit’s laugh eased the pressure in his chest. “I can go stand over there.” He motioned toward the champagne fountain. “If my company is that bad.”

Sacha rolled his eyes. “No need to be dramatic and dig for compliments. You know I like your company.”

The triumph in Bandit’s expression let Sacha know he had walked straight into another of Bandit’s traps. “Good. How can I help?”

Sacha studied the backyard of the compound the couple had been loaned for the wedding.

The ocean backdrop looked beautiful. The last few lingerers were being led away by the heavy security the owner had hired.

Sacha didn’t know much about him except he was someone important.

A crew had arrived, and the inflatables were already deflated.

A cleaning crew worked to clear away the mess.

All the equipment and whatnot would be picked up by the rental company.

Sacha motioned toward the table filled with gifts. “I told Baylor I would take care of ensuring his gifts got delivered to their house so he would be free to go straight to their room. So, really, that’s all I need to do.”

Bandit nodded. “Cool. You grab a stack, and I will too. We’ll have this knocked out in no time.”

In unison, they moved to the table and grabbed boxes. “I’m thinking I’ll have to make more than one trip. Luckily, their place isn’t that far. When I offered to do this, I didn’t consider how many gifts a celebrity would get.”

Bandit chuckled. “Yeah. This is a little crazy. I can’t imagine they need any of this.”

“They asked people to donate to the Kapra Foundation in lieu of gifts, but it doesn’t look like anyone listened.”

“I did.” Bandit sounded serious and so at odds with his earlier self. “The Kapra Foundation works to rescue, rehabilitate, and re-home victims of sex trafficking. They mostly work with kids. That’s something that should be important to everyone, but for Baylor, that probably means everything.”

Sacha nodded as he listened. “I imagine it does. Even though I don’t have the same funds as the people attending tonight, I donated as well. Admittedly, I didn’t really look into the foundation. I just hit the donate button. It was Baylor’s wish, so…” Sacha shrugged.

Two huge guards appeared at their sides, carrying more gifts and distracting them from their conversation.

Even though Sacha was grateful for their help, they cut down on the amount of time he got to spend with Bandit.

The guards offered to help deliver the gifts, ensuring everything made it in one trip.

Bandit saved his mood from spiraling. “I’ll help you unload all this at Baylor’s. That’s where I’m staying while I’m in town anyhow.”

Sacha froze. He had been way too busy prepping the ceremony and reception to realize that tidbit. A nervous laugh escaped him. “Yeah. Me too.”

Thankfully, Bandit immediately made things less awkward. “My parents are staying as well.”

“That’s nice.” His parents would definitely stop Sacha from doing anything he couldn’t take back.

Bandit nodded. “Chipper put them in a room in the back corner of the house, so they shouldn’t even hear us banging around.”

Everything inside Sacha stilled. “Banging around?”

“Putting away these gifts.” Bandit’s expression was so innocent. Yet Sacha got the feeling his words had been purposeful.

Sacha shifted from foot to foot at the door of his rented SUV. “Ah. Okay. Well, I will see you there, I suppose.”

Bandit flashed a sweet smile. “Okay. I’ll see if one of these guards will give me a ride. My parents and I rode together.”

Sacha huffed before he could stop it. “You know damn well you can ride with me. Why are you acting all…” Sacha waved his hands, searching for the words. He hated it when English failed him. “I don’t know the word. Get in the car.”

With a laugh, Bandit jogged to the passenger side and climbed inside.

Sacha’s irritation didn’t let up. Bandit had really acted like Sacha would just leave him there.

Maybe he didn’t really think of them as friends.

Sacha had never considered that. Now that he had, the thought pissed him off and hurt his feelings.

He was very frustrated tonight. His emotions were all over the place.

He was on the road before Bandit touched his arm.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t want to assume anything. It was never my intention to upset you.”

Well, now Sacha felt dumb. “I am… I don’t know how to say.” He scrambled again. Normally, he was very good with English. He had lived here a long time, but Ukrainian was all that had been spoken in his household. When he got overly emotional, it made it hard for him to focus.

“It’s okay,” Bandit said, making it worse.

Sacha blew out a sigh. “It’s not. I don’t want you to apologize for something so unimportant.”

“Your feelings aren’t unimportant.”

Sacha’s eyes stung. He didn’t need this crush to get any bigger.

Thoughts of Bandit already filled too many hours.

“Your feelings matter to me too.” It was all Sacha could think to say.

Thankfully, Chipper’s house came into view.

Sacha pulled into the driveway. The two guards followed. The three of them set to work.

Each time Bandit passed him, their gazes met and held.

Heat built between them. Sacha couldn’t pretend he didn’t see his desire reflected back at him.

His feelings were confirmed by the men helping them.

Not on purpose, of course. They were Russian and spoke only Russian to each other.

While most Russians couldn’t understand Ukrainian, a few Ukrainians understood Russian.

It had a lot to do with the complexities of linguistics, but for Sacha, it had more to do with where he had lived in Ukraine.

He had been on the border where both languages were taught.

Sacha understood every word the pair said.

They passed, eyeing Bandit and him. The bigger of the two spoke. “They should just fuck. Watching this dance is exhausting.”

“They might if we hurry up and leave.”

Sacha stumbled at the smaller guard’s response.

To his surprise and joy, no one saw. If they were this obvious, then Sacha wasn’t only seeing what he wanted.

He was in trouble. They would soon be alone.

Baylor and Chipper stayed where the wedding was held and would leave from there to their honeymoon destination in the morning.

Bandit’s parents were there, but Sacha hadn’t seen them.

They were likely sleeping in some deep recess of Chipper’s enormous house.

It would be just the two of them. He should run.

“That’s everything. Zander’s guards are gone. I tried to tip them for their help and they laughed at me. Not sure what that was about.”

Sacha’s hands rose and fell. “Who knows?” He shifted from foot to foot. “I guess I should head to bed.”

The disappointment Bandit tried to quickly mask made Sacha’s heart soar before reality brought him back down. They couldn’t do this. Bandit shifted from foot to foot. “Yeah. Me too. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”

With a final awkward glance, they headed for the hall. They laughed as they realized they were headed in the same direction. Sacha reached his room first. Bandit’s was right next door. They glanced each other’s way as they moved to step inside their rooms.

“Fuck it.”

Before Sacha could decipher Bandit’s words, Bandit was there.

In his space. His mouth covered Sacha’s, and the world stopped.

It was nothing like he imagined. Bandit was always so gentle and sweet.

His kiss was the polar opposite. Sacha’s back hit the doorframe, and Bandit consumed him.

He was all passion and fire. Sacha was just along for the ride.

His mind was a blank slate. He would have done anything right then.

Then it was over. Sacha’s chest heaved like he had run a mile.

A haze coated his vision. His body burned.

Bandit sweetly kissed his forehead. “Goodnight, Sacha.”

Sacha couldn’t speak. He couldn’t move. All he could do was watch Bandit disappear inside his room. That had really just happened, and nothing would ever be the same again.